The Forerunner
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The Forerunner weekly bulletin of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church Orthodox Church in America (OCA) – Archdiocese of Pittsburgh 601 Boone Avenue, Canonsburg, PA 15317 724-745-8216 – www.frunner.org – www.facebook.com/frunneroca/ Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Canonsburg, the Chartiers Valley, Washington, and Beyond! January 17th, AD 2021 32nd Sunday after Pentecost (Tone 7)/12th Sunday of Luke St. Anthony the Great Home Parish of the Ever-Memorable Met. Theodosius, (+10/19) May his memory be eternal! Вѣчная память! Rector, Fr. John Joseph Kotalik 425-503-2891 – [email protected] Attached Clergy: Protodeacon John Oleynik, 724-366-0678 Deacon Theodosius Onest, 724-809-3491 Parish President & Warden, Mr. Kiprian Yarosh, 724-743-0231 Interim Choir Director, Mrs. Diane Yarosh; Cantor, Lara Galis The Orthodox Church humbly claims to be the One Church of Jesus Christ, founded on the Apostolic Witness to our Lord, born on the day of Pentecost, and for 2,000 years making known to men, women, and children the path to salvation through repentance and faith in Christ. All Services are Live-Streamed Online on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/StJohntheBaptistOrthodoxChurchCanonsburg/live Upcoming Schedule January 19, Tuesday: -7:00 PM, All-OCA Online Church School for Middle and High School Students: Every Tuesday, go to https://www.oca.org/ocs and click your age group! January 21, Thursday: FR. JOHN & MAT. JANINE RETURNING January 23, Saturday: -5:15 PM, General Pannikhida -6:00 PM, Vespers & Confession January 24, Sunday (New Martyrs & Confessors of Russia; Xenia of Petersburg; Sanctity of Life Sunday): -8:45 – 9:15 AM, Confession -9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Church Open Until Noon -6:00 PM, Moleben to St. Nina of Georgia (Nina Onest’s Nameday; transferred from Jan. 14 due to Fr. John’s absence) January 26, Tuesday: -7:00 PM, All-OCA Online Church School for Middle and High School Students: Every Tuesday, go to https://www.oca.org/ocs and click your age group! January 27, Wednesday -6:30 PM, Moleben in Time of Pestilence, followed by Confession January 29, Friday (March for Life in DC): -9:00 AM, Moleben to End Abortion -12:30 PM, Moleben to End Abortion (simultaneously with OCA’s Moleben at the March for Life in DC) -6:30 PM, Vespers & Confession January 30, Saturday (Three Holy Hierarchs): -10:00 AM, OCF Divine Liturgy (Tentative) @ Waynesburg University -6:00 PM, Vespers & Confession January 31, Sunday: -8:45 – 9:15 AM, Confession -9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Church Open Until Noon -6:00 PM, Moleben to St. Brigid February 1, Monday (Eve of the Feast of the MEETING OF THE LORD): -6:30 PM, Vespers & Confession Parish Life Amid Coronavirus – UPDATED 12/20 • All services are open to all parishioners and visitors. • Masks must be worn at all times except for when receiving Holy Communion; serving clergy will remain maskless, but will put on masks whenever possible. • On Sunday mornings, we have moved to a first-come, first-served model: ushers will help to seat you so as maintain social distance of 6-8 between families. If there is no room upstairs, please sit downstairs in the hall to watch the service on the protector, coming up for Holy Communion and for the Veneration of the Cross. • For those more concerned about COVID, feel free to head downstairs directly. • If you would like to volunteer to help usher, please contact Mat. Myra Oleynik: [email protected]. • For other services, we ask that you practice social distancing. Spots are marks for individuals and small families with a “1-3” sticker, and for larger families with a “4+” sticker. • We are currently having no more than six singers, who are wearing masks in the choir loft. At other services, we are employing a single singer up front, without a mask. We kindly ask that we refrain from singing from the pews for the time being. • If you would like to get on the singing rotation, please contact Diane Yarosh: [email protected]. • Depart the church as soon as possible after services; socialize in the parking lot. • Abp. Melchisedek has instructed us to follow the updated Pennsylvania travel directives: other than commuters, if you travel out of state, you must EITHER quarantine for 10 days or receive a negative result from a COVID test before you return to church services. • For those uncomfortable coming to church, remember that all services continue to be live-streamed, and confessions can be heard over the phone. Visitors are always welcome upstairs; regardless of their last name, please invite them! Communion Appointments For those uncomfortable coming to Church amid the Coronavirus pandemic, Fr. John is able to offer the Reserved Sacrament for the Sick. Please contact Fr. John to make an appointment, with mornings preferred. Fr. John can come your house, but if you are comfortable coming to the church this is greatly preferred. Parish Stewardship We thank our dedicated parishioners for their continued donations in this trying time; the parish still has bills and it is only by our sacrificial offerings that we can continue to meet our financial responsibilities. If unable or uncomfortable coming to church, please mail your donation. Additionally, you can now give online: go to tithe.ly and search for St. John Orthodox Church – Canonsburg. Fundability Our parish scrip program – Fundability – is still taking orders. Please call or text Wendy Petronka at 724-255-5046 or email her at [email protected] in order to place your order and to arrange to get your gift cards. One of our dedicated Fundability helpers will be available after our weekend Liturgies too! Food Drive Chronic hunger is always a problem in the United States and Washington County, but the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic have made the issue worse. Even before the pandemic, Washington County had a food insecurity rate of over 10% and now, with the unemployment rate of 12.8% (an 8.3% increase from last year and above the national average of 7.4%); that rate is rising. The Outreach Committee is hosting an on-going food drive to support our community, and our own parishioners. Please consider purchasing one or two non- perishable food items when you shop. You can drop off the items in the narthex the next time you are in church, and Committee members will deliver it to area food banks. If you’d like to contribute in other ways, baby supplies (diapers, wipes, & formula) and toiletries are also needed. Any financial donations are welcome too! If you have questions, please contact Julianna Cario: 724-263-1046. Theophany House Blessings Given the pandemic, our annual house blessings after the Feast of Holy Theophany will look a little different this year. Fr. John will be JUST blessing the house: wearing a mask, asking you all to wear masks, and departing without the normal socialization, coming and going as soon as possible. If you would like this short blessing, please go to the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084FADA929ABF94- theophany. If you do not have an internet connection, please call Fr. John about one of the following dates and times. Alternatively, starting in February, Fr. John will be making virtual visits over Zoom for those who would like the annual visit with Fr. John, both for those who had their homes blessed and those who did not. Sign-Up information will be made available later in January. If there is a greater demand for house blessings than expected, the virtual visits may be pushed back into mid-February. Fr. John misses you all, and cannot wait until he can sit down with each and every family during house blessing season next year! Note: each time slot allows for 15 minutes for the house blessing, and only 30 minutes is provided for travel between locations; if you live a good distance away from the parish, please consider using one of the final morning/evening slots and be patient if Fr. John arrives a bit late. As Fr. John is not good at refraining from socialization, this schedule will keep him coming and going quickly! If Fr. John doesn’t have your address, please include it on the sign-up or email/call him with it. Looking Ahead: OCF Liturgy on Jan. 30th (Tentative) If you don’t know, we are blessed to be cultivating a wonderful OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship College Ministry) Chapter at Waynesburg University. With the blessing of His Eminence, Abp. Melchisedek, Fr. John hopes to serve a missionary Liturgy at the university’s chapel on Saturday, Jan. 30th. This will be the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Ss. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, which – by blessed coincidence – are patrons of students (particularly theological students, but not limited to them). He is working with the university in this, and should have a final answer soon. If and when this Liturgy is served, please consider supporting our parish in this missionary effort with your wonderful presence. Sanctity of Life Sunday & Moleben to End Abortion Ever since the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case legalized abortion on January 22nd, 1973, the Friday following Jan. 22nd has been marked by the March for Life in Washington, D.C., to witness to the Christian belief in the sin of abortion, drawing 400,000 participants in some years. Since 1987, the Orthodox Church in America has officially participated in the March for Life, with the Primate (then Met. Theodosius) normally in attendance since 1988. Since 1996, the Orthodox Church in America has observed the Sunday before the annual March for Life as “Sanctity of Life Sunday” as a prelude and preparation for this occasion, with the Holy Synod asking us to insert special petitions and prayers into the Liturgy asking God to help us respect all human life, from conception to natural death, both in regards to abortion as well as “to care for the needy, to show kindness to the poor, to aid the homeless, and to help the helpless”.